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Chapter 5

Consumer Behavior

Concept of Utility
Concept of Utility
Customers use many products that give them pleasure or satisfaction. Utility refers to the measure of satisfaction or well-being that a consumer derives ...
Marginal Utility
Marginal Utility
Consider a girl riding her motorcycle under the hot sun, feeling thirsty. Spotting a gas station, she buys a bottle of water. This first bottle of water ...
Relationship between Total Utility and Marginal Utility
Relationship between Total Utility and Marginal Utility
Total utility, or TU, is the overall satisfaction with the consumption of all units of a product. Consider the utility that John gets from eating pizzas ...
The Consumer Preferences  I
The Consumer Preferences I
Consumer preferences are based on a few assumptions that help simplify consumer behavior. A market basket or a bundle refers to a combination of goods and ...
The Consumer Preferences II
The Consumer Preferences II
The study of consumer behavior is based on a few assumptions regarding consumer preferences. The assumption of transitivity means that a customer's ...
Indifference Curves
Indifference Curves
An indifference curve is a graphical representation of a consumer's preferences. A consumer is indifferent among different combinations of two ...
Features of Indifference Curves I
Features of Indifference Curves I
Nancy loves coffee and sandwiches. Her preferences for various combinations of coffee and sandwiches consumed weekly are represented in IC1. It gives her ...
Features of Indifference Curves II
Features of Indifference Curves II
Suppose indifference curve IC1 represents John's preferences for weekly consumption of goods X and Y. Now imagine another indifference curve IC2, ...
Calculating Marginal Rate of Substitution
Calculating Marginal Rate of Substitution
The marginal rate of substitution, or MRS, is the rate at which a consumer is ready to give up one product in exchange for another while maintaining the ...
Marginal Rate of Substitution
Marginal Rate of Substitution
Marginal Rate of Substitution, or MRS, measures the amount of one good that a consumer can sacrifice in order to gain an additional unit of another good ...
Types of Indifference Curves
Types of Indifference Curves
Indifference curves are usually convex to the origin due to the diminishing marginal rate of substitution. However, the shape of indifference curves ...
Budget Constraint I
Budget Constraint I
Budget constraint helps to describe the combinations of products a consumer can afford to buy with their limited income. For instance, a student receives ...
Budget Constraint II
Budget Constraint II
The slope of the budget constraint represents the rate at which a consumer can trade one product for another. For example, a student spends his weekly ...
Factors Affecting Budget Constraint  I
Factors Affecting Budget Constraint I
A Budget constraint or budget line represents the various combinations of two products a consumer can purchase, given their income and the prices of ...
Factors Affecting Budget Constraint II
Factors Affecting Budget Constraint II
A budget constraint or budget line is affected by a change in the income of the consumer. For instance, a student receives a weekly allowance of $100 that ...
Consumer Choice I
Consumer Choice I
Consumer choice involves selecting a combination of products as a market basket, or a product bundle. The chosen bundle should provide the highest level ...
Consumer Choice II
Consumer Choice II
Consumer choice involves selecting a bundle that provides the highest level of satisfaction to the consumer under the constraints of their budget. The ...
Consumer Choice III
Consumer Choice III
The optimal bundle that gives maximum satisfaction to a consumer lies at the point where the budget line touches the highest possible indifference curve. ...
The Total Effect of Price Change
The Total Effect of Price Change
When the price of a product changes, it affects the consumption behavior of the consumer. This change in consumption is called the price effect or the ...
Income and Substitution Effects
Income and Substitution Effects
When the price of a product changes, it affects the consumption behavior of the consumer. This change in consumption is called the total effect, which is ...
Price Consumption Curve
Price Consumption Curve
When the price of a good changes, the consumer purchases a different optimal bundle of the two goods in response to the price change. Each time the price ...
Deriving the Demand Curve from Price Consumption Curve
Deriving the Demand Curve from Price Consumption Curve
The price consumption curve shows how the optimal bundle changes with the change in prices of one good. For example, the student changed their purchase of ...
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